Their Next Great Adventure
by Zenelia
Summary: It's summer vacation, and Nina has plans to go back to America. Well, Amber - who wants to avoid a summer of boredom - decides she's going to go with Nina to America. And she brings the entire house with her. This is the story of being on Nina's turf.
1. Amber's Great Idea

**A/N: So, I've had this idea for a while. It came to me when I was watching TV one day. It's a Fabina, of course. With some Jara and AlfiexAmber. Mick's out of the picture (I don't not like Mick - I think he's funny - but I couldn't picture him in this story, so I wrote him out. Hah, lazy writer award goes to me!). Erm. Yeah, I hope you like it! I dunno if I'm going to continue, so some feedback would be nice. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned HoA, Joy would only be a background character to get the party started, and would never come in contact with Fabian ever again. As that doesn't seem to be the case (read: watch the deleted scene from the Secrets Within game), I don't own it. Sorry to disappoint.

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"Nina! What are you going to do for a WHOLE summer? I'm going to be _so_ bored. Mummy's going to Paris with her work, and Daddy's _always_ busy. It's going to be torture!"

Amber was gushing sentiments similar to these are she was rushing around their room, packing her expansive wardrobe.

Nina, meanwhile, had already packed completely, and was sitting on her bare bed, watching the blonde bustle about.

"Well, I'm going back to America. Not very exciting, though I can't wait to see my Gran." Nina smiled.

"Your Gran sounds _so_ cute, just like Sarah was. Well, Sarah was also creepy. But your Gran doesn't sound creepy."

Nina laughed a bit. "No, trust me, my Gran is _not_ creepy."

Amber shook her head, looking like she was trying to figure out something. "No, of course not. If your Gran was creepy, then you'd be creepy too. And you're not."

"Well, thanks. I think . . . " Nina looked at the door, wondering if Amber would let her get away to go spend some time with Fabian before they're separated by an ocean for the whole summer.

"Oh my gosh, Nina! I've got the _best_ idea!" Amber exploded.

Startled, Nina removed her hand from the doorknob, where she was trying to make a sneaky escape. "What is it?" She asked, slightly apprehensive.

"We should all come and stay with you in America for the summer! I know everyone could—well, except for Mick. He's got some sports camp to go to. Which makes me sad. . . But spending the summer with you would cheer me up!" Amber had abandoned her attempt at packing, and came to latch on to Nina's arm in a gesture of begging.

Nina went wide-eyed. "Oh, I don't know, Amber. I mean, I leave for London tonight, and it's very short notice. . . ," Nina thought on it. Realistically, her Gran wouldn't have a problem with it. And the housemates probably had enough on their personal credit cards to pay for travelling expenses—

"Come on!" Amber grabbed Nina's arm, and forcibly pulled her from the room. The excited blonde led them down the stairs to the living room, where everyone else was already gathered.

"Guys, I have had the _best_ idea!" Amber announced.

Fabian came from the couch to stand by Nina, and said, "Yeah? What is it?"

Patricia and Mara stopped talking; Jerome and Alfie took a break in plotting their annual end-of-term prank; and Mick kept eating, but was quiet about it.

"Okay." Amber finally let go of Nina, and moved to stand where everyone would be able to see her. "You know how we all were talking about having nothing to do this summer? Well, all of us besides Mick."

Everyone replied in the affirmative, and Mick left to the kitchen, deciding that he was exempt from the conversation.

"Well, I was packing and talking to Nina just now, and it hit me—we should all go to America with her for the summer!" Amber clapped her hands as she finished, and looked about. "What do you all think? Fun, right? I'm a genius."

"That's actually a pretty good idea, Amber," Fabian said. "As long as it's okay with Nina." He looked at her.

"Um, yeah, I'm cool with it. I need to call my Gran real quick to see what she thinks about it, but I'm sure she'd be okay with it as long as you can get your own funds for the train rides and flights."

Patricia nodded. "That sounds doable. And a summer away from here would be nice. What with all that's gone on."

"I've always wanted to go abroad. It seems so fun!" Mara added, smiling.

"Oh, yay! So what about you boys? I know Mick can't go, and we all know Fabian will go, but Jerome? Alfie? Will you come?" Amber turned to the House's resident troublemakers, hands on hips.

Jerome shrugged. "I'd just be stuck here with Trudy and Victor all summer if I didn't, so sure." Mara shot Jerome a concerned look as he said this, but it went unnoticed.

"Amber, you're going, right?" Alfie asked.

"Of course! It was my idea, after all." Amber rolled her eyes as if that was _very_ obvious.

"Then I'm in!" Alfie punched the air in his joy.

"Great! Nina, go call your Gran. Everyone else, go call your parents to tell them of the change in plans," Amber instructed, whipping out her own pink phone.

"I guess she's taken over my travel plans!" Nina trilled to Fabian, who nodded and laughed.

Nina walked into the hall, looking at the time and calculating the difference. Figuring it was an acceptable time, she dialed her home number.

"Hello?"

"Gran!"

"Nina! Darling, how's packing going? There wasn't any trouble, was there?"

"No, no, no. No trouble at all. But,—well, I have a question."

"What is it, sweetheart?"

"My friends—British ones—they. . . well, Amber came up with the idea—but, can they come over to America with me for the summer?" Nina bit her lip.

The other line was quiet for a moment, then—

"I don't see why that'd be a problem, as long as they can pay their own way."

"Really?"

"Sure! They can help with the B&B." Nina's Gran laughed.

So did Nina. "I'd better not tell them that, or they won't want to come! Thanks again, Gran."

"No problem, dear. Be safe travelling."

"I always am. Love you, Gran."

"Love you too. Bye."

Nina heard the dial-tone, and closed her phone. She took a deep breath and shook her head. _This is going to be hectic,_ she thought, a smile forming regardless.

She walked back into the living room and was immediately assaulted by Amber.

"So what'd your Gran say? She said yes, right? Oh, I am _so_ excited!"

Amber ran off and Nina laughed exasperatedly. Amber was her best friend here, true, but she was also tiring to be around sometimes.

"Did your Grandmother really say yes? Or is Amber just assuming and exaggerating as always?" Fabian chuckled as Nina jumped at the sound of his voice. He hadn't meant to surprise her, but he thought she was cute when she was startled all the same.

"Oh, Fabian!" Nina laughed. "You snuck up on me. But no, Amber's not assuming anything. Gran really did say you guys could come on, as long as you pay for your own way." She shrugged, her smile ruining her attempt at nonchalance.

"That's great! Amber already made us contact all our parents. They all said yes apparently, except Alfie's and mine."

Nina's smile fell. _Fabian can't come?_ "Did yours say no then?"

Fabian offered her a reassuring smile and rested his hand on her arm. "No, no, don't worry. They haven't got back to me yet. I left them a message, and my Da will probably call me back in a few minutes after he's put on break."

Nina brightened, and removed his hand from her arm to hold it. "Okay."

A slightly awkward silence passed, and Nina was reminded of her 'Is it hot in here or what?' comment. Instead of embarrassing herself like that again, she asked, "So what's the deal with Alfie's parents? Is he not going to be able to come?"

Fabian started to shake his head and shrug when the object of their conversation interrupted them.

"Hey, Nina!" Alfie called from across the room. He was standing with an anxious Amber, annoyed Patricia, and a smirking Jerome.

"Yeah?" Nina asked, walking over. Fabian followed.

"Can you help me convince my parents? _Pleeaassee_?" He drew the 'ee' sound in please way out, emphasizing his plea.

"Um, sure. Why not. You'd be fun to take to America. What do I have to do?"

Alfie handed her his cell. "Okay, first off—THANK YOU! Second, just tell them that I'm going for business experience or something like that. I need a reason—a _good_ reason—or they'll make me sit through a summer of business seminars!" He wailed the last part as if he was staring torture in the face.

Nina smiled somewhat deviously. "Oh, I know exactly what to tell them."

Alfie nodded enthusiastically.

"Hello?" Nina said into the phone, which she though had some unidentifiable goop on it. She held the phone awkwardly so the goop wouldn't be on her face.

"Hello, I'm Alfonso's father. What is it exactly that he'll be doing on this _extremely_ short-notice summer trip to the United States?"

_Alfie's dad has a stuffy voice,_ Nina thought.

"Um, well, a variety of things. My Gran owns a bed and breakfast, you see, and he'd be gaining work experience in the office and out dealing with customers. It's a good place to practice people skills and office work."

"Oh really? That sounds like a good situation to start building those fundamentals, indeed. Put my son back on the phone please."

Nina grinned as she handed the phone to a dumbstruck Alfie. "Your dad wants to talk to you."

Alfie took the phone weakly as Jerome started laughing.

Nina turned back to Fabian, who was outright beaming at her. "You are a devious, devious girl."

Nina smiled back. "It comes naturally."

Amber, who had been talking with Patricia and Mara about plans or something, suddenly turned around and addressed Nina. "Wait! We aren't going to have to _work_ on this trip, are we?"

"No," Nina laughed. "My Gran does own a bed and breakfast—we live there, actually—but we won't have to work. Sometimes I'll help when a waitress calls in sick or something, but it's not mandatory."

"Okay, good," Amber said, moving to sit down. Then—

"Aww! A bed and breakfast! I bet that's _so_ cute!"

Nina just smiled at her friend. She went to tell Fabian something. . .

. . . when she saw that he'd disappeared.

"Fabian?"

She wandered into the hallway, and found him sitting on the chair by the phone, his cell in hand.

"Yes, Da. I'll be going to America with Nina instead. . . . No, it won't just be the two of us!"—here, his face flushed a bright red—". . . Just because she's my girlfriend—. . . Oh, okay. I can do that. . . Yeah, they have currency conversion stations at the airports, Nina told me. . . Okay. Thanks so much, Da! Give Mum my love. Alright, bye." He pressed a button on his phone and made to stand up when he saw Nina there. He blushed again.

"What was that all about?" She asked, walking fully into the hall.

"Oh, just talking to my Da. He said it was fine that I go to America with you." He smiled.

"That's great! . . . But why do you keep calling him 'Da'? Are you just not pronouncing the last 'd' or something?" Nina was pretty good at interpreting British sayings by now, but she'd never head 'dad' said that way before.

Fabian laughed. "No, no. That's just a British—well, not even that. It's more of a dialect thing. It's like the difference between 'Mum' and 'Mom'." He pulled a face at the odd word in his mouth. 'Mom' just didn't fit right with his accent.

"Oh!" Nina said, an expression of comprehension crossing her features. Then she grinned. "But you can come! I'm so happy about that." She hugged him around the neck, relishing the way his arms automatically wrapped around her waist.

He chuckled into her hair, and muttered something that sounded vaguely like "Same."

"Oh, you two are _so_ cute!" Amber's voice drifted in from the living room. "I take it Fabian's coming?"

Nina and Fabian broke apart, both blushing, to find Amber, Mara, and Patricia staring at them from the doorway.

"Well of course Fabian's going! We all know he follows Nina around like a puppy," Patricia griped, rolling her eyes. All the same, she had a small smile upon her lips that betrayed her.

"I'm not puppy-like!" Fabian argued, staring at her in astonishment.

"Well I think it's sweet!" Mara said, looking around. "You two really do make a cute couple."

Nina blushed again and was about to stammer out her embarrassed thanks when Alfie and Jerome's appearance stopped her.

"Yes, yes, yes. It's all very sweet and such. Point is, we're going to America!" Alfie said, bouncing in place.

"When do we leave?" Jerome asked, clasping his hands in front of him and leaning forwards.

"Uh, well, you'll all need a ride to the train station in town, and our train to London leaves tonight at 8," Nina said with half a smile.

"Oh, yay!" Amber squealed. "I _love_ trains!"

Everyone started bustling about, finishing making their change of plans.

"Yep," Nina said to Fabian. "They're all coming to America with me. Is it wrong to be a bit nervous?"

He laughed and grabbed her hand. "Not at all. Come on!" he pulled her into the living room, where the preparations for their next adventure were taking place.

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**A/N: This is unbeta'd, as my usual beta/friend is strictly Harry Potter. So any mistakes are mine. (If you wanna offer to be my beta, I would appreciate it!) Like I said before, I would love some feedback on this. I dunno if I should continue, if I'm OOC, etc. And I wanna know if you like my story. :] Oh, and it wasn't supposed to be this long - it was 12 pages front and back when I wrote it out, and 7 typed! I was surprised. Anywho, reviews make me happy (and a better writer). :]**

**-Zenelia*Sky**


	2. The Train Station

**A/N**: So, I've worked quite hard to get this to you guys tonight. I'm continuing! *claps* And *drumroll* I have a beta! So a great big thanks goes to pink-strawberry-lemonade for looking this over and helping me. Here it is! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own HoA, a train ticket, or Brad Kavanagh. Doesn't stop me from trying, though.

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"Alright everybody, it's time to go! Cabs are here!" Trudy called from the front door, which she had propped open.

"Great!" Patricia grumbled. "The cabs get here _just_ as I was sitting down!" She stood up, a magazine in hand, and bee-lined towards the luggage pile by the door.

Nina, Amber, and Mara came from downstairs, while the boys appeared from the hall.

"Everybody grab your luggage!" Trudy instructed, helping sort the mound that everyone had made to supposedly make leaving easier and more efficient.

"Oomph!" Amber grunted, her carry on strapped to her back, big bag in hand. "This is heavy!"

"Here, Amber! I'll help you!" Alfie said, moving to help the blonde. The problem was, he already had his own bag to carry, and with hers, he was a tad overbalanced. "Ah, ah, ah!" He yelped, toppling over.

Jerome started laughing, while Amber screeched, "Alfie! That's my bag!"

Mara squealed as she hurried to move out of the way, and Patricia just loomed over him saying, "I bet you did that on purpose. Now get up, you moron, we've got a train to catch!"

Fabian bent to help sort the jumbled mess. "Can't we do anything as a group without there being a commotion?"

Nina giggled under her breath. "Come on, we can all just grab a bag and sort out whose is whose later—we need to go!"

Everyone grumbled, but they appeared to be able to get it together at last. Patricia grabbed her bag—"Oh, and let you all get a hold of it and lose it? No, I don't think so."—and Alfie managed to hold both his and Amber's, without falling over this time. Mara made to grab hers, but Jerome swept in and took it. She just shrugged. Nina and Fabian both took hold of their own bags, and finally everybody was ready.

"Oh, I hope you all have a wonderful trip!" Trudy said from the doorway, where she had watched the whole ordeal with a fond, motherly smile. "Be extra careful—we don't want any of you getting lost along the way!"

"Thanks so much, Trudy," Nina smiled and hugged her housemother. "We'll all be really careful."

"Yeah, we'll all work to keep tabs on each other. Buddy system!" Alfie said, eyes set on Amber.

"One problem with that, genius. There's an odd number of us since Mick's not here," Patricia pointed out.

"We'll fix that later! Let's just _go_ already!" Amber complained, tapping her foot.

"I actually agree with her—we don't want to miss our train," Nina said, walking through the door.

Fabian followed, then Amber, Mara, Patricia, Jerome, and lastly, Alfie.

"Be safe!" Trudy called out the door, waving. Everyone waved back, some more enthusiastic than others.

"Oi, I remember you!" A vaguely familiar voice said from behind Nina. She whirled around, and was face to face with the very cab driver that first brought her from the train station to Anubis House.

"You brought me here!" Nina exclaimed, a smile taking form on her face.

"Aye, that I did! I recognized your name on the roster, so I thought I'd snag the job. Here, I'll take your trunks." He reached over and pick up her bags, and put them in the trunk of one of the cabs.

"That's so thoughtful," Nina said to Fabian, smiling. He nodded agreement.

"Who's riding where?" Patricia asked, standing with the rest of the house, observing the line of 4 cabs in front of Anubis House.

"Um. Well, there's 7 of us, and 4 cabs. So we can double up, and then one cab will have only one person in it." Nina pointed to each of the cabs, who had a driver standing in front of it.

"I call solo cab!" Patricia screamed, running to the last cab in line. The driver packed her bags in the trunk, opened the door for her, and waited for everyone else to pick their rides.

"I'll ride with Amber!" Alfie said, looking at her.

Amber's shoulders drooped a tad, but she smiled all the same. "Okay. So, Mara and Jerome will share one? And we all know Fabian's going to ride with Nina." She winked at them, causing the couple to blush furiously.

"Sounds like it's all set, then," Jerome said, trying to smile instead of smirk. He didn't really want to scare off Mara, and he didn't want anyone else to think he had any sinister plans—they thought that enough of him, anyways. While he may really be a devious, plotting prankster, he wouldn't actually do anything truly harmful. At least, not to his friends or anyone that mattered.

"Yep!" Nina said, walking to the cab in front, where 'her' driver was. Fabian followed, and threw his bag in the trunk on top of Nina's. Mara and Jerome took the second cab, and Alfie and Amber took the one in front of Patricia's.

Once everyone was settled in their respective cabs, they drove off in the direction of town and the train station.

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"Ninnnaaaaa," Amber whined. "Why does our train have to leave at _night_?"

"So we can get to London, and only have to wait a couple of hours at the airport before our flight takes off. It's a timing thing," Nina explained, leading everyone into the small station. There was no secretary on duty, and the place was practically deserted, except a few stragglers.

"So our train ride will be how long exactly?" Patricia asked, coming up beside them.

"About five and a half hours tops."

Patricia groaned, plopping down on a bench. Mara and Jerome came in, both smiley for whatever reason, and Alfie and Fabian came back from their quest in search of a vending machine.

"Oh, yay, everyone's here!" Amber said, perking up. Then she turned to Mara. "Why are you so happy?" She asked, her tone slightly accusatory, as if she _knew_ something was up.

Mara went wide-eyed, not faring well in the face of pressure. "Oh, no particular reason. I'm just excited about this trip, is all."

Amber nodded, a knowing glint in her eye. "Uh-huh. Whatever you say, Mara."

Mara looked around. "I'm being serious, Amber! Honest!"

"Oh, can it, Mara. It's Amber, she's going to think what she wants anyways," Patricia said, pulling out her magazine. "The real argument is whether or not Moron-boy and Geeky found a vending machine?" She looked in the direction of Alfie and Fabian.

"Oh, ha ha, call me a geek. Not like I haven't heard that one before. And no, we weren't able to find a vending machine, sorry to disappoint." Fabian rolled his eyes. Patricia really got under his skin when she said stuff like that—he thought it unnecessary to always put people down with degrading names.

"No need to be so sarcastic," Patricia said with a glance in his direction. She just shrugged and went back to her magazine.

Nina just looked between the two with a surprised gaze. "Okaaay," she said, exaggerating the 'a' sound. The air around them was tense for whatever reason. Mara and Amber were still having a conversation about what happened or didn't happen between Mara and Jerome; Jerome and Alfie were goofing off as always; Fabian and Patricia were pointedly avoiding the others' eyes, and Nina felt as if she was caught in the middle of it all.

Just then, an announcement was made over the intercom. "The 8 o'clock train for London will arrive in 5 minutes' time. All passengers riding this train need to present their ticket to the conductor at the platform entrance and be prepared to board when it arrives."

"Oh, that's us!" Nina said, glad for something to break up the suddenly icy mood. She grabbed her bags, as did everyone else, and they headed to the conductor's station to present their tickets.

"Ooh, he's cute!" Amber said of the 'conductor,' who really looked like he was about their age.

Mara rolled her eyes but smiled, while Nina said, "Um, if you say so, Amber."

Amber giggled when she handed him her ticket. The conductor just gave the blonde an odd look and took her ticket, ripped the stub, and handed it back. While Alfie had frowned when Amber called the conductor cute, he perked up at the conductor's estranged receipt of her.

Next, they moved out to the windy platform. "Ah, my hair!" Amber squealed. For once, Nina was inclined to agree with her as her own hair was flapping about, getting caught in her face and mouth.

"Bleh!" She said, spitting some of it out. Fabian gave her a questioning look. "I got hair in my mouth." He smiled in understanding, his eyes alight.

_Oh, what did I do to deserve him?_ She thought, smiling back for all she was worth. She was only vaguely aware of the others talking around them.

Fabian was just as entranced. He was still hard pressed to not give in to that 'pinch-me-I-must-be-dreaming' feeling when he realized that Nina really was his girlfriend, everything this past term _had_ happened, and he actually got to hug her and kiss her whenever he wanted. (And when it was appropriate—there's a time and place for everything, he thought.)

Suddenly the wind picked up, and a train horn could be heard quite near, bursting the bubble they had been in. Sounds from the outside world flooded their ears, the sights of the lights on the night sky seemed bright on their eyes, and the realization that they were about to be on a train to London seemed to hit them full force.

"It's here! Oh, this is so exciting!" Mara exclaimed, leaning closer to the yellow line that they were still standing behind, as the train lined itself up with the platform.

Nina smiled, having done this before. She knew the excitement and jitteriness of it, and she thought it was nice to watch someone else experience it.

Fabian sidled up beside Nina, and grabbed her hand. She squeaked in surprise, then turned and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Alright, let's go!" Nina called. She didn't let go of Fabian's hand, but still managed to carry her bags and make it onto the train in one piece. She twisted at the waist, counting heads to make sure everyone got there okay.

The seats were in blocks of two, all facing one way. Amber took hold of Mara and dragged her off to sit together, Alfie and Jerome sat side-by-side, and Nina and Fabian took seats together. Patricia sat across the aisle from Amber and Mara, and she leaned across the space separating them to chat.

For about the first hour of the ride everyone was awake, lively, either talking or otherwise engaged. But as time wore on, the activity tapered away. Amber was the first one asleep, leaning her head against Mara. Patricia was next, her head propped up by her hand. It was hard to tell who fell asleep first of the two—Alfie or Jerome. Jerome's head was against the window, and Alfie was slumped forward, his face pressed into the seat in front of him. Mara tipped her head back, and soon she was unconscious as well. All that was left were Fabian and Nina.

Nina yawned, seeming to crack first.

"Tired, Ms. Martin?" Fabian asked, teasing.

"Maybe just a bit. What's it to you, Mr. Rutter?" She asked, calling his bluff.

Fabian smiled, his face soft. "Not much. Just that I get the luxury of being your pillow for the night," he said as Nina was making herself comfortable using his shoulder to prop her head up.

"Hmmmm," Nina hummed. "You make a good pillow."

Fabian chuckled, and she could feel the vibrations travel through his body. "Thanks. I think."

"It was a compliment."

Fabian nodded, and she was almost gone, when he asked, "Nina, how are we going to know when to get off if we all fall asleep?"

"I have an alarm on my phone," she replied, quite groggy.

Fabian nodded again, and soon felt her breathing get deeper, letting him know she had finally drifted off. He smiled at her before leaning into her hair (it was very soft, and smelled quite nice) and giving in to his fatigue himself.

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**A/N:** Soooo. Did ya like it? I rather liked this chapter. It gave me a bit of trouble at first, but I liked it. Feedback is always nice - keep those wonderful reviews coming! I got a lot of great ones last chapter. It makes me so happy knowing people read and like my story! :]

-Zenelia*Sky


	3. What's Paddington Bear?

**A/N: **So. I apologize profusely for the wait, but this chapter gave me an utter _FIT._ It took forever and a day to write! That's why It's about 1k words shorter than the other two. I had _wanted_ to go ahead and get them on the plane—but that didn't happen. Oh wells. I did a lot of research for this, but as I don't live in England nor have I ever been on a train, etc, so some of it may be off. . . Yeah. Thanks to the lovely pink-strawberry-lemonade for beta'ing! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** If it's called a 'disclaimer', then I obviously disclaim. You can still sue me, of course, but you won't get much.

* * *

_. . . Beep. . . Beep beep. . . Beep beep beep. . . BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP. . ._

Nina jerked awake as her phone started beeping and vibrating against her thigh. Her head flew up, and knocked into something.

"Ouch!" Fabian muttered, holding his head as he blinked into awareness.

"Fabian! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit your head." Nina bit her lip, worried that she actually hurt him.

"No, it's okay. Just a small bump." Fabian smiled. He had been using her head as a pillow—much like she had been using his shoulder—and he figured he shouldn't have left himself in a position to get whacked awake.

"Alright." Nina nodded. She finally got her phone out of her pocket, and turned the alarm off.

Fabian leaned over, trying to see what time it is. "Wow, it's already 1 o'clock in the morning!"

Yawning, Nina replied, "Yeah. I set my alarm for a few minutes before we're supposed to get there. We need to get off at the next stop.

"Ah. We'll probably want to wake the others, then."

Looking around, Nina agreed. She turned around in her seat, and started gently prodding Amber. "Amber. Amber. Time to wake up."

The blonde lifted her head off of Mara's arm. "Wha—?"

"It's time to wake up," Nina repeated. "We're almost at our stop."

Amber rubbed her eyes, looking much like a little kid, and turned to wake Mara.

While Nina had been doing that, Fabian reached over and tried to wake Alfie. After several failed attempts, he shook Jerome's shoulder. Jerome instantly sat up, and looked around. Fabian nodded at Alfie, mouthing, _Wake him up._ Jerome stretched, then knocked Alfie into the floor. Fabian leant back into his own seat, and watched as Alfie sat up, alarmed, yelling, "What happened to my bed?"

"Oh, do you _have_ to be so loud? You woke me up!" Patricia grumbled.

"Well, that's a good thing, then," Amber said. "We're almost at our stop."

"And we don't have to deal with waking the terrible goth Trixie!" Jerome sniggered.

"Oh, shut up, creepazoid." Patricia glared at him. She yawned and turned to Nina. "Are we almost there, really? It seems we only just left."

Nina nodded. "Yeah, we are we should be there in about—" She was cut off by an announcement.

"Good morning passengers, this is your train conductor. We'll be arriving at Paddington Station in approximately 10 minutes. Please gather your things and prepare to depart the train at the platform."

"—10 minutes, like he just said," she finished. Patricia nodded and stretched before standing up and getting her bags from the overhead compartment.

"Ooh, we're going to Paddington Station! I want to see the statue of Paddington Bear!" Amber said, getting her luggage together.

"Paddington Bear?" Nina asked, confused.

"Ah! Do you not know who Paddington Bear is? He's so cute!" Amber squealed.

Nina turned to Fabian for an explanation, letting Amber's ramblings become background noise. "Who's 'Paddington Bear'?"

Fabian thought of a way to explain it. "He's a character from a children's book series. Did you come through Paddington on your way here?"

Nina nodded.

"Then you probably at least passed the statue they have of Paddington Bear, even if you didn't know it."

"Oh. Okay."

Conversation died down as the train pulled into the station. They waited for the all clear to get off the train, then filed out onto the platform.

"Where to now, Nina?" Mara asked as they walked into the large station.

Nina looked at a map of the station nearby and said, "We need to go out front and get cabs. Then we ride to . . . Heathrow Airport."

Fabian, who'd been inspecting the map alongside Nina, gave her an inquiring glance. "Take cabs to Heathrow? Wouldn't it be easier to take the Heathrow Express?"

Nina looked around, wide eyed and confused. "I-I don't know what that is."

Fabian chuckled. _It's cute how American she is sometimes._ "Come on." He took Nina's hand, and started to pull her in the direction of a ticket booth.

The rest of the group—who'd been standing around tiredly, not really listening to the conversation—jumped with a jolt as they changed direction.

"Where are we going now?" Amber asked.

"We're going to get tickets to the Heathrow Express," Fabian said over his shoulder, taking the lead.

Everyone else nodded and "Oh"ed, reaching in their wallets and purses for their credit cards to pay for the tickets.

Nina was confused. "Fabian," she said, trying to get his attention.

"Yes?"

"I still don't know what this Heathrow Express is."

He chuckled again. "It's a train line that transports travellers directly from here—Paddington Station—to Heathrow Airport. You took a cab from there to here, correct?"

"When I came from America, yeah."

"You probably just didn't know about it. But that's okay. It'll just save us time." He smiled at her as they reached the booth.

Amber waltzed up to it first, even though Fabian had been first in line. "I need one ticket for the Heathrow Express!" she said, holding out her credit card, which was standard color except for a splash of pink on the outside. She'd obviously gotten one of the personalized ones.

The half-asleep woman behind the ticket glass yawned, swiped Amber's card, and slid the ticket underneath the window. "Have a nice ride."

Mara went up next, having followed Amber. Then Jerome, and Alfie. Fabian was about to step up, when Patricia cut him off with a glare and a threat of an elbow to the ribs. She got her ticket with her dark hued card, and went off to stand with the others, all of whom were crowded around a bench little ways away.

Fabian approached the ticket booth.

"Fabian?" Nina was riffling through her bag, but couldn't find her money. She was about to panic, when she remembered that she had packed it in her larger suitcase with her wallet for safe keeping. She knew she wouldn't have had enough already converted to British currency anyways.

"Just a moment," he said, turning back towards the ticket booth. "I need two tickets for the Heathrow Express, please."

Nina had opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again in a snap. She realized that he was going to buy her ticket for her without her asking. _Meaning he would've done it anyways, even if I didn't have the money._ She smiled.

Fabian got the two tickets and turned around. "Did you need something?" he asked, handing her the ticket he bought.

"You're so sweet," she said instead, hoping he wouldn't ask if that was the real thing she wanted to say or not. She leaned herself forward and gave him a peck on the lips before pulling away and turning around abruptly. "Where to next?"

The brunet blinked, trying to keep up. He cocked his head to the side, and grabbed his bags. "To the Express platform," he said, pointing out the way. He sped up until he was right beside Nina, matching her pace. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and smiled at her.

Then they realized that not everyone was following. Nina twisted around. "Hello? Are you guys coming with me to America or not?"

Amber and Mara jumped up, the first two to not want to be left behind. Jerome and Alfie were next. Patricia brought up the rear, grumbling along the way that it was much too late in the evening to be running around a train station.

"It's not evening, Patricia. It's technically very early morning," Mara said, as they made to wait for their Express train, which would arrive in about 15 minutes.

"Late in the evening or early in the morning—blah blah. It doesn't matter, it's still a time I should be sleeping!" Patricia snapped, plopping herself down on the bench and crossing her arms.

"Well, this will certainly be interesting," Nina said, as she sat down on another bench, Fabian's arm still wrapped around her. She looked at her phone, noting the time, then she snuggled into his embrace, enjoying the small moment of peace they'd have in Paddington Station before they'd have to leave for the airport.

* * *

**A/N:** . . . I'm not as happy with this chapter, but I do admit I like the ending. For the research, I looked up train stations (do you know there's a TON of those in England?) and airports that would be plausible for the Anubis residents to take/use. I tried to get it right, but as I'm a mere American who doesn't travel, I may have some slip ups. If the timing doesn't fit—well I had to do it that way for the story. Creative license and all that. Please tell me what you think! I've gotten some lovely reviews so far, and they do make me so happy.

On another note—I've decided to take story requests (don't worry—this one will still be written!) so if you have an Anubis story you want to see written, or just like my style, or whatever, shoot me a message/review and I'll see what I can do! I'll do almost anything except Joy/Fabian. That's one that I won't do. Gracias!

-Zenelia*Sky


	4. Distracting Mara

**A/N:** Okay, I'm _very_ excited about this one. It's one of my favorite chapters yet! And, my best, I think. I'm not so sure. I switched POVs, so you guys are going to have to tell me how that goes. I have to note that I've never been on a plane before, so I did the layout for it based on my seating arrangements. Thanks to the fantabulous **pink-strawberry-lemonade** for beta'ing! She helps me so much. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Sigh. It's depressing to type this. But, alas, it is not mine.

* * *

Jerome sat back, enjoying the ride. They had finally made it onto the Heathrow Express train, and were on their way to the airport at last. He had to admit, Nina was a pretty efficient traveler—or, she was until it came for them to get from Paddington to Heathrow. But Fabian took charge (Jerome didn't think Rutter had it in him!) and took care of that. The rest was in Nina's hands, though.

She hadn't lost anyone yet—not even Alfie when he went on his expedition to the loo, which Jerome thought was a feat in itself.

No, he was having a pretty good time, considering he had originally only said he'd come because he didn't want to be stuck at Anubis House for the summer like he would've been. His parents made the excuse that they were too busy with work to have him around the house, but since he was a teen—who could take care of himself well enough—he knew it was just a ruse to not have him around. It didn't bother him, though. He was used to it.

Of course, it didn't hurt matters that he got to ride in the same cab as Mara on the way to the first train station.

Nothing happened; not really. But they had just sat in the back of that cab, talking. It was nice, he thought. Especially since Mara actually _cared_. She didn't just sit there, nodding her head occasionally, pretending to listen—she really would, and even asked him questions about what he was talking about a few times. That was another sign she wasn't tuning him out.

He enjoyed it.

And, he was finally admitting it to himself—he liked her. _Liked_ her, liked her. Before, he had made excuses, at least in his head—he wanted a friend, she was a challenging chess partner (which she was), he wanted to sabotage Mick (that's true too, but for more reasons than one), the list could go on. Now he would think it, to himself. He liked her.

He didn't know what he was going to do about it, not yet. But he definitely was going to use his time in America without the meathead around to find out.

* * *

"We will be pulling into the terminal at Heathrow Airport in 5 minutes' time. Please be ready to depart swiftly and safely from the train to the terminal." The conductor's intercom was hard to understand due to static, but the message was conveyed well enough.

"We're at the airport, at last!" Amber was bouncing in her seat. She loved airports—it was so chaotic, so busy, and so much fun! She had been looking forward to this part of the trip since they left.

Nina looked over at her friend and smiled. _Amber's so easy to amuse_, she thought. She got her bags from the overhead compartment, and made sure everyone else did the same. Patricia had fallen asleep again, but Mara was kind enough to gently wake her without any drama. Alfie and Jerome were bickering over their bags (apparently, they had some trouble getting them into the shared compartment, and were now having even more trouble getting them out) but that was resolved when the luggage tumbled out of the compartment and onto the floor to be collected.

Soon, it was time for them to get off the train. They piled into the terminal, which served as the train platform as well. Nina had been here once before—when she came to England before she moved into Anubis House—but she was still astounded by the sheer size of the place. To think, only one terminal held a train station/platform, restaurants, shops, and an airplane boarding area! And there were four more terminals in the airport. It was mindboggling. She was certain it was bigger than JFK airport back in New York City.

"Oh, wow. Look at all the people!" Mara exclaimed. She was doe-eyed, looking about as everyone else was. It was so crowded, but not in an overwhelming way. It was pleasantly crowded—the kind of crowded where there was plenty of people to watch, but also the corners and tables where you could seclude yourself with a book or other past-time before your flight.

"Yeah, Heathrow is the busiest airport in the UK, and one of the busiest in the world," Fabian said.

"Of course _he'd_ know that," Patricia muttered. She still wasn't in the best of moods, and all the bright lights and people weren't helping anything, really. She just wanted to get on the plane and go back to sleep at this point.

"Well—where to next?" Alfie asked, innocently. He was half-asleep, and didn't want to get lost.

"We stay in this terminal—terminal 5—and we get on one of the British Airlines planes to JFK Airport in New York City. Our flight leaves in . . . an hour, now. So we need to go through check out and security." Nina led the way to the check-out booths and what not, preparing herself for the long process it took to get on a plane.

* * *

"Are we going to NYC, then?" Amber asked excitedly as they finally were able to take seats in the waiting area. They only had a handful of minutes left before their plane was due to start boarding, and Amber could not sit still to save her life. This was her kind of adventure! And they're going to New York City—one of the fashion and shopping capitals of the WORLD. She was sure she'd have to convince Nina to let her shop for at least a little bit while they were there.

"Yes, for a while. That's where our plane lands, and we'll meet my Gran there. Then we'll figure out how we're getting to where I live."

"Where do you live, exactly?" Amber wanted to get this straight. If Nina didn't live in the City, then hopefully she lives somewhere with good shopping still.

"I live in Avondale, Arizona. It's a 'suburb' of Phoenix. It takes about 30ish minutes to get from where I live to the beginnings of Phoenix," Nina answered absentmindedly. She was watching the board on the wall—apparently it would tell them when they could get on the plane, and an announcement would be made.

_So many announcements!_ Amber thought. _I'm scared all the voices are going to make me go crazy. It's okay when I can see their body, but these I can't because they're over the intercom. Oh, there's a word for that. . . disemheaded? No. . . unbodyfied? No, that's not it either. Oh well. Point is, I've heard Phoenix has great shopping malls! It's all about 'cactus chic' over there. Wait— _

"Nina. Isn't Phoenix in the desert?"

"Technically, it's on the edge of the desert. But it still does get pretty hot. In the summer, it's usually 100 degrees or above."

Amber's eyes bugged out of her head. "100 degrees? That's like, hot enough to boil water! A person can't possibly live like that!"

Nina looked over, apologetic. "Sorry, that was in Fahrenheit. It'd be about 37 degrees or above in Celsius."

Amber got it. "Oooh! Okay. Oh, yay! That's total bathing costume weather!"

Nina just smiled and went back to watching to board. Amber studied her for a bit. Nina was holding hands with Fabian, of course, and Amber just noticed that her foot was entwined with Fabian's as well. _Oh, they're perfect for each other. I wonder if I'll ever have that. Well, have that _again._ Me and Mick were good together, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. People think I'm still swooning over him, but I understand—he just wants to be friends. I'd rather be his friend than nothing. I still want a boyfriend, though. Not just a boyfriend, but someone who'll be my best friend as well. Alfie seems to like me. But do I like him? He's nice enough. He's a bit of a jokester, and I don't like that he's best mates with Jerome of all people. I can tell he really cares, though. And he's sweet. In an odd, Alfie way. Maybe I should pay more attention to him—_

Amber's internal monologue was interrupted by Nina pulling on her arm. "Come on, Amber. It's time to board the plane."

"Oh, yay! I'm so excited!" Amber squealed, jumping up and following Nina. They gave their ticket passes to the attendant, then walked down the long hallway-thing that would take them to the plane. Amber was bouncing with happiness the entire way.

* * *

They were the last two left. It was just him and Mara. Patricia had been asleep first, going unconscious almost as soon as the turbulence from take-off evened out. She was sitting in the window seat of the row behind Jerome and Mara. Alfie was beside her. Nina and Fabian were in two of the three-seat-wide middle rows, Amber beside them. Nina had leaned up against Fabian, his arm around her waist. They were both asleep, using each other as a pillow. Amber had her seat leant back, and was curled up in a ball, also asleep. Jerome didn't need to be able to see Alfie to hear his snoring.

"Ah!" Mara said. "I'm too nervous to sleep. This is the first time I've ever been on a plane!"

"Hmmm. Little Mara. Scared of a plane, now? Don't be. They design these things to stay in the air," Jerome replied, in what he thought was a condolence.

"So? There's always technical difficulties! And what if an engine fails or something? Or! Or, if we run into another airplane. I've always wondered how they know they're not on a head-on course for running straight into another plane."

Jerome smiled over at her. "Mara. Seriously, nothing's going to happen. And they have," he waved his hand about, "they have air traffic patrollers to prevent that from happening. So there's no need to worry about it."

Mara wrung her hands, still nervous. "Oh, I dunno. I think I just need a distraction—you know, something to take my mind off the fact that I'm probably kilometers in the air, off the ground. Not even on water, like you are in a boat—"

Mara was going to continue, but Jerome cut her off. "Mara! Don't worry about it, okay? As for a distraction," he smirked, "I think I can offer that."

She gave him a skeptical look. "How so?"

"Well. What do you want me to do to distract you? There's a number of things I can do, and I'm willing."

"Really? You'd help me, just to ease my fears?"

He looked at her for a beat too long before answering. "Yes."

She was taken aback for a moment. "That's really kind of you, thanks. What should we do. . . We could do one of those question games! Like 20 questions."

Jerome threw his head back and rolled his eyes. "Oh, come _on_, Mara! That is so clichéd! Can't you come up with something better?"

Mara's eyebrows furrowed. "Hey! I thought it was a good idea! And while I don't claim on being the most _creative_ person out there, it's not the worst thing ever!" She felt the need to defend herself, even though it was just against Jerome.

He gave her a look. "You really want me to play 20 questions with you?"

"Well, yes. We can do the guess-the-object version, or the all-about-me version."

_Oooh. That's a tough choice. On the one hand, I don't want to answer questions about myself. . . but this is the _perfect_ excuse to ask Mara questions. . . damn. _He contemplated. In his head, he had a mental list of pros and cons. "Alright, alright. We'll do the all-about-me one."

Mara's eyes lit up, and she looked like a kid on Christmas for a brief second. "Great! Do you want to start, or shall I?"

"I thought it was ladies first?"

Mara blushed. "Okay. . . When's your birthday?"

Jerome did a double take. "You didn't know?" Mara shook her head, looking ashamed. "It's August 4th," he answered. "And I return the question—when's yours? And I openly admit to not knowing."

She smiled. "It's okay; not many people at school do because it's always on Easter holidays. My birthday is April 11th."

Jerome nodded. "My question?"

"Oh, I forgot to ask! Uhm. . . why does Victor seem to like you best out of the House residents?"

That took some thought. "I'm not sure. I don't think I've given him a reason to like me—though Alfie does tend to be the one who gets all the blame and trouble for our pranks. I think he likes me because I've been there the longest. Since I was 5."

Her eyes widened. "Victor was the head of house when you were that small?"

He smirked. "I thought it was my turn to ask the question?"

She blushed again. "Right. Sorry. Go on."

Chuckling, he said, "It's alright. What did you do for school before you came to ours?"

"I went to a local school, near where I live with my parents. It wasn't a boarding school, so I was able to go home each day. It was nice, in a way. But—"

"—but it's nice not to have to deal with parents, right?"

Mara grinned. "Ah! I thought it was _my_ turn now."

Jerome nodded. "That it is. Ask away."

Now that it was her turn, she was slightly stumped. She knew Jerome had been at their school since he was 5—he had told her that once before, and just now—so she didn't want to ask him a question related to that, with the fear that she'd be prying. While she was thinking, she yawned.

"Uh, . . . what's your favorite food?" She asked around another yawn.

Jerome laughed. "You really just asked me that! I don't have a favorite food—not for eating. If we're talking throwing, then spaghetti wins, hands down."

"I don't like your food fights that you and Alfie have. It always leaves a mess. Especially when I'm on clean-up duty."

Jerome noticed that Mara kept yawning, and that her eyelids seemed to be getting heavier. He smiled at her, a soft, yet genuine smile. "I'll be sure to make note of your clean-up days, and not have a food fight on those days. Now, my question. Are you sleepy?"

Mara nodded, and leaned onto Jerome's shoulder, not really aware of what she was doing, or the fact that he stiffened when she leant on him. "Yes, I am. I think we're going to have to put this game on hold. . . "

Jerome had stiffened out of shock, but soon shifted and tried to relax. _Mara is on my shoulder. Mara is using my shoulder as a pillow. Mara is leaning on me. Mara is asleep. Oh dear god._ He'd never been in a position like this before, and he wasn't sure what to do. At least, not with a girl he actually _liked_. "That's fine, Mara. Go to sleep."

"'Kay," Mara muttered before she finally drifted off completely.

Jerome looked at her once more, before settling himself back in his seat, and pretending to get some sleep himself, though he knew that the effort would be futile. He found that he didn't really mind all that much, considering he had the girl of his affections on his shoulder.

* * *

**A/N:** Yay for Jara! Sorry that there was no direct Fabina—you still got it from another POV. It was fun switching it up—but it was kind of scary to get in Amber's head. You'll have to tell me if I got everyone right. I think the hardest part about having so many characters is making sure no one gets lost while the focus is on another. I know that the 20 questions thing is over done, but I thought it fit. I don't know much about Avondale, AZ, so to anyone who lives there, I'm sorry if I get it wrong. Reviews make me happy! :]

Oh, and on the note of my story requests that I'm doing/taking. . . I've got a couple, and one I'm thinking of doing, but to all my anonymous reviewers—I'm sorry, but I can't take a request unless I have a way to reach you. So you need to have an account so I can message you and confirm that I've got the request right. Thanks!

-Zenelia*Sky


	5. Ah! We're in NYC!

**A/N:** They're finally in New York! Sorry this took so long - with the site not letting anyone log in, my beta, the fabulous pink-strawberry-lemonade, couldn't get the doc, and then I couldn't post it anyways. I liked this chapter! It's my longest yet. I'm having a lot of fun with this story. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: Unlike Nina, I own neither a car nor anything HoA related. Yeah, it makes me sad, too.

* * *

Nina blinked her eyes, getting used to the light outside the airplane cabin's windows. It was mid-afternoon, and as she confirmed the actual time on Fabian's watch, she knew they would be landing soon.

She yawned and moved to stretch—and that's when she realized that she had been curled into Fabian's side, his arm around her. She blushed as she thought, _I've probably been like that the entire plane ride!_ Shaking her head, she smiled. Even though she was kind of embarrassed, she thought it was a nice feeling to have woken up with her boyfriend's arm around her. _Better not get used to it. Gran will never let him near my room, much less in it._

Nina froze as she felt Fabian stir. He lifted his head off hers, and looked around. He removed the arm from around her waist as he lifted both his arms above his head to stretch. Once he did that, he seemed to have woken up enough to handle speech.

"How long have we been on the plane?"

Nina did the math, and said, "About 6 and a half hours now. We only have about a half hour to 45 minutes till we land in NYC."

He nodded, and covered his mouth as he yawned. Fabian looked around again. Amber was still curled up in her chair, a mask over her eyes so she could sleep peacefully. Patricia was asleep, her head leant to the side against the window. Alfie was in almost the exact same position as he was in on the train, only this time his long legs were tucked underneath him somehow, at what looked like an unnatural angle. Then he spotted Jerome and Mara.

He nudged Nina's shoulder, and inclined his head to show her where to look. He smiled when she gasped, then let out a soft 'aw', a very-much-toned-down version of Amber's squeals.

"I would've never guessed Jerome and Mara were together. I didn't even know they were friends!"

"Oh, they've been friends for a while—since Mara came here, really. Not the best of friends, but they do talk a bit. From what I've heard Alfie saying, he's liked her for quite some time," Fabian said.

"I would appreciate it if you two didn't talk about me as if I couldn't hear you." Jerome cracked open an eye, mildly surprised that he had been able to go to sleep after all. He glanced down at Mara—whose head was still leaning on his shoulder, her arm somehow had moved to clutch onto his—then over at Nina and Fabian. "I don't talk about you two, so you shouldn't talk about me."

Fabian opened his mouth, preparing to say a sarcastic retort, but figured it wasn't worth it and shook his head, looking away from Jerome. Nina looked between the two, then said, "Someone isn't a morning person," under her breath. It was then that Amber decided to stir.

The blonde rolled onto her back, and stretched her arms above her head, looking simultaneously like a cat and a little kid. She yawned, and pulled her sleep mask off. "Are we to NYC yet?"

"Close. We'll be there soon," Nina answered. She looked back at Jerome and Mara. He had apparently gently woken her, as she was sitting up, rubbing her eyes. Nina could barely miss the slight smile on Jerome's face, and Mara seemed happy as well. _They'd make a cute couple, I suppose, _she thought. At least, Jerome was nice to Mara when they were together.

"Oi! Travelling American!" Nina's head turned as Patricia's not-so-lovely-I-just-woke-up voice called across the aisle.

Nina thought about saying something like, "I have a name, you know," but thought against it, thinking it best not to anger Patricia in the morning. "Yes?"

"What do I have to do to get some grub around here? I'm bushed!" Patricia crossed her arms.

"I'm not sure. The flight attendants should be . . . around, I guess. We're going to get off soon, anyways, Patricia. We can always get something at the airport or in New York," Nina said. She had looked around for a flight attendant—just to ask, even though she didn't think they offered food on a flight so close to landing—but she couldn't find one. She was partial to waiting until they got to New York; even though she had loved England, and Trudy's food _was_ to die for, Nina was craving some good American food that she hadn't had in so long. "Why don't you wake Alfie, and we'll see what the plan is?"

Patricia grunted, and shoved Alfie in the ribs. He jumped, and about fell out of his seat, but just barely managed to not. He looked around and rubbed his eyes. "Why do people always shove me awake? It's very rude."

"Aww, Alfie! I wouldn't shove you awake! I agree—it's a very rude way to wake someone up."

"Thank you! I'm not the only one who thinks that." Alfie attempted to lean across the aisle to give Amber what was sure to be a very awkward hug, but was stopped by a passing flight attendant. The woman, wearing the navy blazer and uniform, gave him a nasty look that would rival Patricia or Victor's as she passed.

"No, you're not." Amber smiled at him after giving the attendant a weird look behind her back. "If you ask me, that lady is _not_ in a good mood."

Alfie just nodded his head vigorously in agreement.

The attendant, meanwhile, had made her way to the front of the cabin, and was now calling for everyone's attention.

"I wonder what they're going to announce," Mara said, speaking to the general group for the first time since she'd woken up.

"Probably that we'll be there soon—it's almost time we land, according to the itinerary," Fabian answered, looking forwards.

"I would like to call everyone's attention, please," the attendant started. "There's been a minor accident on the runway, and it's going to delay our landing for about another hour. We'll be holding pattern until then. I apologize on behalf of the airline for the delay." The attendant disappeared into the front of the plane as soon as she was finished speaking.

"What? A whole hour? Oh, that's just peachy," Jerome groaned, letting his head fall back to hit the back of his seat.

"They said there was an accident. I hope everything's okay." Mara looked to Nina. "Is the airport we're to be landing at a busy one?"

Nina was thrown off guard a bit. "We're supposed to land at JFK Airport. Yeah, I'd say it's pretty crowded. It's where everyone who comes directly through New York uses, usually. Why?"

"Well, they said there was an accident. I'm just hoping two planes didn't crash or something. That'd be awful!"

"Mara. The lady said a _minor accident_, you heard her. I'd think they'd make a bigger deal out of it if two planes had crashed!" Patricia rolled her eyes. She was tired, she was hungry, and she just wanted to get off that damned plane!

"There could be a minor crash with two planes! I'm sure it could happen, theoretically," Mara defended herself. She was honestly worried about that—she didn't want anyone to be hurt.

"I'm sure it's okay, Mara. I agree—if two planes had crashed, they would make a bigger deal out of it," Jerome said. He tried to not notice the sly look between Nina and Fabian as she said that, but it was hard to miss. He chose to ignore it, regardless.

"Yeah. Yeah, they would. . . ," Mara muttered. She hoped so, at least.

As they waited, things calmed down a bit, surprisingly. It was obvious that the plane was in a 'holding pattern', or going in circles, as the people who could look out the window kept getting dizzy. Patricia pulled out one of her magazines—this one had a rather intimidating picture of a dark band on the cover, with the promise of 'finding the inner you—how to rebel and stay sane' being inside. Jerome and Mara were talking again, presumably continuing their questioning game from the night before. Amber and Alfie were leaned across the aisle, conversing with each other, much to Alfie's delight. Nina and Fabian were leaning on each other, discussing their plans for telling Nina's Gran that they were going out. No, things were rather relaxing in the plane at that moment. And they'd be off it soon, off to meet and greet America.

* * *

"I would like to call everyone's attention, please. We are pleased to inform you that we will be landing in approximately 15 minutes, as the runway has been cleared. Please buckle your seat belts and prepare for landing turbulence. Thank you."

"YAY! WE'RE FINALLY LANDING!" Amber squealed, clapping her hands before fiddling with her seat buckle. "I'm _so_ excited!"

Nina smiled as she buckled herself. "I'm glad, too. I can't wait to see my Gran. And to be on solid land again—that'd be nice, too."

"Oh, definitely," Alfie cut in. "Being in the air is messing with my head. I think it's because it leaves us more vulnerable to Alien abductions. There's no telling if we've already been kidnapped and we just weren't able to tell!"

Fabian looked over at that. "Alien abductions?"

"Yeah! The longer you're in the air, the most susceptible you are. We're on their turf now—they don't last as long on land, so even though we're not safe, we're saf_er_ there." He nodded his head, looking as if he truly believed himself.

"Alfie. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there's no such thing as aliens," Fabian said, trying to be gentle.

"Yes there is! You just can't see them. But Jerome believes me, don't ya, buddy?"

Jerome turned around in his seat as best as he could while buckled. "Aliens are as real as you think they are, mate."

"See, he believes me! Cause I think aliens are _very _real."

Amber looked confused. "How do you know they are?"

Alfie jumped at the opportunity, and launched into a detailed explanation of alien society and how they impact Earth, which Amber seemed to follow—or she was just good at pretending to. Nina decided to tune them out for the time being, focusing first on Jerome and Mara (who were asking each other questions about past crushes and who they were currently interested in—it was rather cute), then on Fabian.

"Nina?"

"Yes, Fabian?"

"You haven't told your Gran yet, have you? I've just realized that."

Nina blushed, and resisted the urge to shuffle her feet (mainly because she had no room). "N-no, I haven't. . . Only because I wanted to tell her in person!" She said, her head snapping back up. "Though, I am a bit nervous about how she'll take it."

Fabian was a bit confused, but he smiled at Nina's shyness all the same. "Why? Does she not normally approve of your dates?"

"I'm not sure. I've never actually had a boyfriend before, or even a date. . ." Nina let her voice trail off. She knew that they would discuss something like that eventually, but she hadn't thought it would've been so soon—or on an airplane right before they were to land in New York.

Fabian blinked, mildly shocked. "I don't believe that."

Nina looked around. "Um. Why not? It's true, I promise."

"Because I don't see how anyone as beautiful as you could not have snagged a date before. Any guy who just passed you by is clearly a fool, and not worth your time."

Nina smiled really big, and leaned over to give him an appreciatory kiss. "You're the best."

Fabian blushed, and continued. "Of course, now that I'm around, they _should_ be passing you by."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Nina smiled at him again.

"Oh my gosh, could you two spare us the mushiness, _please_?" Patricia snorted, finally having taken notice of Nina and Fabian. Amber turned around, her eyes questioning what was going on; Alfie looked around Amber; and Jerome and Mara turned in their seats.

Nina and Fabian wore similar expressions—their facial color rivaling that of a tomato. They both started to sputter protests, but were saved by the flight attendant calling for attention once more.

"May I have your attention? Thank you. The plane has landed, and you may now unbuckle, gather your belongings, and depart the plane. Thank you for flying with British Airways."

"Ahhhhh!" Amber squealed, all but jumping out of her seat. "We're in New York City!"

* * *

It took them a few minutes to go through luggage pick-up, but once they did, Nina rushed them to the front entrance, where people who were waiting for others to get off the plane were.

"Where is she, where is she, where is she?" Nina muttered to herself, standing on her tiptoes, trying to see over everyone.

"Who are we waiting on?" Amber asked, looking around to see if she could find what was going on.

Nina ignored her in favor of continuing her search. It wasn't long after that, though, that they all heard a voice near them call out.

"Nina-banana!"

Nina whirled around at the sound of the voice, her hair flying off her shoulders by the movement. "Gran!" She dropped her luggage where she stood, and ran towards her grandmother. When she reached her Gran, Nina flung her arms around her Gran's neck, and was swung around. "I missed you so much!"

"Aw, sweetie, I missed you too!" Nina's Gran leant back, taking in the sight of her granddaughter. "England's been good to you, I see."

Nina smiled. "Yes, it has. Oh! Introductions." She ran back over to where everyone was standing, and picked up her luggage. "I didn't drop that on your foot, did I, Fabian?"

Fabian chuckled, happy to see Nina so happy to see her Gran. "No, you didn't. Came close, though."

"Sorry." She turned to her Gran. "Gran, this is everyone. Fabian, Amber, Mara, Jerome, Alfie, and Patricia. They're my housemates at school." She had pointed to each person as she said their name, and then looked back to her Gran.

"Well, hello! I'm Rachel Martin, Nina's Gran, as you probably know. I'm sure you're all tired and hungry—"

"Bushed! Where can we get food? Now?" Patricia cut in, standing with one hand on her hip, the other holding her big bag behind her; her carry-on was slung across her shoulders.

Rachel blinked. "What does 'bushed' mean?"

"It means hungry," Fabian supplied, smiling. It reminded him of all the times Nina has asked him to 'translate' British phrases to something she'd understand.

"Ah! Well, then, come on. We can drop your bags off by the cars, and then go walking to find a good hot dog kiosk or a good burger place." Rachel turned around, and started walking towards the entrance to the airport.

"Cars? With an 's'?" Nina asked, suspicious.

"Yes. Think fast," Rachel said as she threw a set of keys at her granddaughter. Nina squeaked as she fumbled around trying to get the keys in her grip. "Come on."

Nina looked at Fabian, her eyebrows knitted together. "I just had a pair of keys thrown at me."

Fabian opened his mouth, but Patricia seemed to be in an interrupting mood. "Great observation, smart one," she snapped as she walked past. Nina just rolled her eyes and followed her Gran, making sure everyone did the same.

* * *

"Nina, close your eyes!"

"What?"

"Close your eyes!"

"Okay, okay, they're closed!"

"You, brown-haired one beside Nina whose name I'm afraid I've already forgotten, make sure her eyes are closed!"

"Erm, alright."

They all walked ahead in the parking lot, Rachel insisting that Nina close her eyes, Nina trying to walk with her eyes closed, and Fabian confusedly following the request of making sure Nina kept her eyes closed. Everyone else were behind them, muttering about what was going on, or in Amber's case, gazing at all the skyscrapers and traffic while going "Ooooh!" every five seconds.

"Gran, what's going on?" Nina finally broke down and asked.

"You'll see. Here, press the red button on those keys I gave you."

Nina blinked open her eyes, trying to see what button to press, but her Gran wasn't going to have that.

"No, you have to keep your eyes closed!"

"Then I can't see to press the red button."

"Oh. Well here, I'll press it then." Rachel took the keys from Nina, and mashed the button. A car three spaces down immediately started beeping, its lights flashing. "Open your eyes."

Nina opened her eyes to see a car going off. It was a nice car—a pretty, deep blue, with chrome detailing on the rims of the tires. For a moment, Nina just stood there. But realization soon sunk in, and she gasped, then smiled really big.

"Is that. . . Is that _my_ car?"

Rachel nodded. "Uh-huh. Charlie finally gave out, I'm afraid, so me and Officer Dave pitched together to get you this. It's a Honda Civic EX Coupe. It's even a stick shift, just for you."

"Aw. Poor Charlie. But. . . ! This is so amazing! You and Officer Dave got it for me? And it's all mine?" Nina walked towards the car, as if she could hardly believe it.

"All yours—same conditions as with Charlie. You'll be driving it home."

That stopped Nina in her tracks. "Driving it home? To Arizona?"

"Yes," Rachel smiled. "Now let's pack everything in the trunks and take off for some restaurants, and if you want, shopping. I know you're all jetlagged, but we're in NYC! And we're going to take advantage of it."

"Ahhh! I love you!" Amber squealed, running forward to give Nina's bewildered Gran a hug. "I'm Amber, if you can't remember. And I'm definitely going shopping. But who's Charlie?"

Nina, who was recovering from learning that she was soon to drive practically cross-country, spoke up. "Charlie was my old car—"

"—More like a hunk of junk," Rachel cut in.

"Yes, well, Charlie is what I called my other car, but it wasn't exactly . . ._ new_, if you know what I mean."

"What she means is, it was falling apart, poor thing. It's transmission finally gave out, so we had to get Nina a new one. You have your license with you, right?"

"Of course." Nina started digging in her carry on, and produced a small, thing wallet-like thing, from which she pulled a card. "I always carry it on me—I.D. and all that."

"Wow, Nina, you have your license already?" Alfie asked.

"Yep. I'm already 16, so I've been driving for nearly 2 years. I just couldn't at school, because you know. Different country, it's school, normal reasons."

Rachel walked to the sedan next to Nina's car, and popped the trunk. "Okay, three of you put your luggage in my car, the other three in Nina's, and we'll get cracking!"

Everyone looked at each other and shrugged. Nina opened her trunk, and threw her stuff inside. Fabian, Amber, and Alfie chose to put their things in Nina's car; Jerome, Mara, and Patricia in Rachel's. After that, they closed the trunks, and set off, ready to get something to eat and spend time in the sidewalk jungle that is New York City.

* * *

**A/N**: Ahhh. I hope you guys like it as much as I do. I tweaked some things - in the show, it's said that Nina's birthday is in 95, making her turn 16 this year, given that school lets out around the end of May/beginning of June. If I had gone by that, she couldn't drive, so I made her a year older. She'll be the in the same group, etc, as in the show, though. And Officer Dave - he'll be explained next chapter, promise. :] Amber in NYC is gonna be fun! Reviews make me happy (and write faster, and a better writer). :]

-Zenelia*Sky


	6. Chef Bob's and Shopping

_**A/N:**_ I'M NOT DEAD! Miracle, innit? I am being stormed on, but that's mother nature's doing, not mine. So. I don't really have much to say, other than "Life happens." I can't do much about the fact that, even though it's summer, I've become busy with stuff, etc. And writer's block. I do promise I haven't forgotten about all of you! And anyone expecting a message from me for any reason - review replies, messages, etc. - I do plan on getting to them; I just need time and motivation. As for the chapter... I'm not happy with it, but it is what it is. I'm slowly getting them out of the city. Thanks goes to the fantabulous **pink-strawberry-lemonade** for betaing and for not giving up on me, even though I've given plenty of reasons for her to do so. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Nope. Not mine. Well, Chef Bob's might be mine. I don't know if it actually exists or not; I kind of thought of it on my own.

* * *

"So what are we doing for food, guys?" Rachel asked the group as they walked down the street. Right now, they were just walking around, looking at the different shops and boutiques, taking in the atmosphere of the city.

"I want something wholly American. Trudy's cooking is amazing, don't get me wrong, but there are some things that are just better over here," Nina said, standing close to Fabian and looking around. She spotted a pizza parlor, gave it some thought, and crinkled her nose when she decided against it.

"How about a nice, greasy cheeseburger, a side of fries, and a chocolate milkshake? I know a good place that Officer Dave and I found when we dropped you off last time," Rachel said, leading the group.

"That sounds—" Nina started to say, but Amber cut her off.

"Ew, wouldn't that be unhealthy? I mean, I like hamburgers, but that sounds like a bit much. Do they have other stuff, too? But I do want a chocolate milkshake; those are good. Oooh, you know what's even better? A strawberry smoothie! I _love_ smoothies!"

Rachel, who looked confused for a moment, just nodded and said, "Yeah, they have other items. It's not exclusively cheeseburgers, fries, and milkshakes. I don't know about the smoothies, though. We could always find a Smoothie King."

Amber's eyes went wide. "There's a _Smoothie King_? Aiiee!"

"As long as they have vanilla milkshakes too, I'm good," Alfie spoke up from beside Amber. "I don't like the chocolate ones." He continued gazing at all the sky scrapers as he talked. "Are all buildings this tall?"

"No, Alfie. We're in a city; they're notorious for skyscrapers and such. Most buildings aren't quite as tall, though," Nina said, glancing up herself. She'd been to New York before, and to Phoenix, which had tall buildings as well, but they never really ceased to amaze her.

"Ahh. . . ," Alfie mumbled just as Jerome scoffed. "What?"

"You've been to cities before, Alf. You should've known that. And I have an inquiry—does this restaurant have chicken sandwiches?" Jerome asked, directed at Rachel.

"I believe so, yes," she answered, getting more and more amused at the interactions between the teenagers.

Mara and Patricia, standing beside Alfie and Jerome, just nodded their assent. Mara wasn't opposed to the food—even though she tried to watch her health, she liked to have small indulgences just like everyone else. And Patricia . . . well, Patricia just wanted something to eat.

"Alright! To Chef Bob's it is!" Rachel announced, changing their direction at the next block corner to head to the restaurant.

With all 8 of them seated inside, the small dining area of 'Chef Bob's' was almost filled. There were very few other seats left, and some of those were taken by the other patrons. Nina, Fabian, Amber and Rachel had been squished into a corner table, while Jerome, Mara, Alfie, and Patricia sat at the table adjacent to theirs. The way things were arranged, though, the conversation was comfortably kept going between the 8 companions.

Nina sat relishing her cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate milkshake; Fabian was tucking into a plain hamburger, fries (which he still called 'chips' at the counter, even though he was probably the most used of all the Brits to American slang), and a soda. Jerome was able to get his chicken sandwich, and had a side of actual chips; Mara and Patricia both got a hamburger with tomato, onion rings, and milkshakes. Alfie, mistakenly, had gotten a grilled chicken salad, when he had said "I'll have the same" after Amber ordered. Amber wasn't able to get her smoothie, but she did have a vanilla milkshake, fortunately for Alfie. Rachel, reasonably enough, had the same thing as Nina.

"So, what about that Smoothie King thing? That seriously sounds uh-may-zing," Amber said, picking through her salad to eat all the chicken before the greens.

"Smoothie King is what it sounds; it's a stand, or building in some cases, that sells exclusively smoothies. I like their Berry Punch smoothie. It's got strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries," Nina explained, dipping one of her fries in her milkshake before eating it.

"Oooh! I really want to go there. Can we?" Amber turned her eyes on Rachel, and practically started begging.

"Sure, sweetheart. If we can find one. I'm sure it's possible; this is NYC, after all!"

"Yay! Nina, your Gran is just as nice as you had said she is," Amber clapped in happiness before going back to her meal.

"She sure is!" Nina smiled at Rachel, who smiled back and shook her head, but didn't really say anything.

They continued eating in silence for a few minutes longer, until Fabian spoke up. "Nina, do you always dip your chi—fries in your milkshake?" he asked, having observed that Nina did that with every fry she ate.

Nina looked down at her plate, and back up to Fabian. "Uhm. Yes? I don't really notice that I do," she laughed. "I've always done that."

"It's quite interesting," Fabian joined in on the small laugh. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone do that before."

Nina smiled, plucked a fry from her plate, swirled it around in her milkshake, and popped in her mouth in response.

Meanwhile, Mara and Jerome were sat, side by side, talking about New York. Jerome, of course, had never been (he'd hardly ever been allowed to stray from the school, but he wasn't going to readily admit that. At least, not when Mara wouldn't be the only one to hear), but Mara had come a few times with her parents, when they made trips to the States for business or other means. She was telling Jerome of all the things she'd done.

"And one time, when I was small, we came and went to the American Girl store. I liked it; it's a doll shop. I got one that looked like me. You know the dark brown hair, brown eyes. I even got her a pretty little pink dress that had a hat; and I got a matching outfit for me! Oh, this is girl talk, though. I'm sorry. Now I feel. . . I dunno stupid or something for bringing it up." Mara blushed, her embarrassment catching up to her.

Jerome just stared at her, a slightly amused look on his face. He started snickering, and that soon turned into full on laughter. While he laughed, Mara got more and more confused. She couldn't tell if he was laughing _at_ her, or at what she had said. He eventually was able to stop, and he composed himself.

"I'm sorry, Mara," he said. "But that was hilarious. I have no clue why you decided to tell me about a doll shop, but I assure you I found it rather funny." He smiled at her.

"Oh, well," Mara stuttered, not really sure what to say. "I was just recounting things I'd done in the city before."

Before Jerome got the chance to reply, though, Amber interrupted, as was her way. "I'm done eating. Can we go shopping now? Can we, can we, can we, can we?" She turned her pleading eyes on anyone she thought it would affect.

Rachel sighed and looked around. "Are we all done eating?"

Jerome and Alfie both shoved the last of their meals in their mouths—they couldn't waste food, no—and then nodded along with the rest.

"Alright; we can do some shopping. But we can't be too long—we need to be in New Jersey for the night. It's just across the bay, but New York traffic isn't known for being friendly."

Everyone got up, disposed of their food and trays, and filed out of the small diner onto the sidewalk. They walked around a bit, and Amber dragged them into any designer store they past. It wasn't long after that she had two armfuls of bags, and everyone else was wilting with jetlag. It was then that Rachel gently suggested that they head back to the cars, and begin to make their way to the hotel in New Jersey.

"Don't we have to go under the water to get there?" Mara asked thoughtfully. "I'm pretty sure the Lincoln Tunnel is under water."

Nina nodded. "Yeah, it is. But you can't see anything, so it's not like you're able to tell."

After that, the conversation stalled, everyone tired and weary, ready to get some rest. They made it to the cars, and Amber piled most of her bags in the trunk of Nina's car; the rest had to go in Rachel's because it wouldn't all fit.

"Nina, here's the directions to the hotel," Rachel said, handing Nina a slip of paper. "Call me when you get there, and we'll meet up to get our rooms."

"Okay," Nina said, reading over the directions. She knew where to go—and she had a really good sense of direction, so she wasn't too worried.

"Be careful, dear. Love you." Rachel gave Nina a quick hug, sorrowful to have to let go of her so soon, even if for just a brief car ride.

"Love you too, Gran," Nina said, hugging her back, and then fishing in her pocket for her keys.

"Alright, guys. Let's go."

"Where are we sitting?" Fabian asked.

"Ride in the car your bags are in, and just pick a seat," Nina suggested, not wanting to bother with it.

Fabian shrugged, and got in on the passenger side of Nina's car. Amber and Alfie clambered in the back, while Patricia, Jerome, and Mara worked out seat arrangements in Rachel's car.

Not long after, they were on their way, all ready for a night of sleep, and for what the rest of the summer would bring them.

* * *

**A/N:** I really need to go rewatch the series... maybe that will give me more inspiration to write. Right now, it seems I'm wholly stuck on drarry fanfiction. It's because of the upcoming HP movie! Sorry this one is short; I did the best I could. Reviews make me happy! :]

**P.S. -** to anyone who has discovered the awesomeness that is tumblr... I have one! Follow me? I'll follow back if you write in my ask! **thelimegreencrayon . tumblr . com** (tip: remove the spaces) :D


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